Under a Dark Umbrella
by Lady Valtaya
Summary: Umbrella has found something long buried beneath the Aklay mountains... She holds a terrible secret that will stop at nothing to regain its freedom... Can the STARS and their friends stop an ancient evil from destroying thier world? FFVII RE crossover!
1. Cave of Wonders

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything in this story, it's strictly fanfiction. Resident Evil and its characters are owned by Capcom. Final Fantasy VII and its characters are owned by Square Enix. I am just crossing the two games for fun.

**Author's note:** I used to write crossovers all the time, and I miss them, so, here we go, crossing RE and FFVII- two of my biggest obsessions.

Prologue

"Tony?" Her own voice was so tight with fear, that she didn't recognize it at first. "Tony! This isn't funny!" The forest's fresh pine scent and the warm breeze quickly disappeared in the cool, damp chill of the caves. She waited a moment, but the only sound in the cave was the rushing of the waterfall that marked its entrance behind her.

Shadows seemed to reach out for her from every corner, but she took another step.

_Don't let the monsters get you. _Rick's words echoes in her mind; he had been a bully to her brother all weekend- but she hadn't guessed he was a chicken. He had flatly refused to come with her. Some wilderness hiker he was; the weekend camping trip with his family was a total waste of her time.

_I'll _show_ you monsters when I get out of this, you jerk, _she thought angrily. That thought didn't bring her any closer to finding her seven year old brother though. The slant of this cave's floor was steeper than the others, and a slick sheen of water was following her down the slope of smooth rock. If she fell there was no telling how far she would slide and she didn't even have her flashlight…

_Caves are dangerous even to seasoned explorers._ Both of her parents had been reluctant to let them join the Stevens' on their vacation when they heard that they were going deep into the cave riddled Arklay Mountains. She could just imagine what her parents would say if she gave up looking before she had really tried…

"Tony? Where are you?"

She moved into the deepening silence, hoping that there weren't any animals like snakes or bats down here, but she couldn't turn back. She called again, "Tony?"

With every step the darkness closed in, deeper and more ominous. She put her hands on the right hand wall and stumbled forward gingerly. It had been over five minutes since the shriek that she'd heard from her brother. There had been no other sounds, but she had to find him- he probably couldn't answer because he'd fallen and was lying unconscious somewhere…

She'd never felt so afraid; her heart's heavy beating echoed in her ears, drowning out all other sounds. Tears stung her eyes and she wished she hadn't let Rick said those awful things…

A whisper of sound above her head made her cringe and she jumped left instinctively. Her feet struggled for balance on the lip of a ledge she couldn't see, and a second later she was falling; her momentum carried her backwards over it.

She scrambled frantically for something to hold onto but her head struck the smooth rocks, and it hurt so much that she was dimly aware that she was still moving. She was sliding backwards, down the wet slope of the cave floor. The shadows all around her made it impossible to guess where she was going or when she might stop. Her head hurt and she wondered if she had a concussion, but when she finally stopped she was so relieved that she just laid there for a while...

The cold stone was smooth and cool against her bruised back and head…

"Stacy?"

"Stacy? Are you ok?" A small hand shook her shoulder. "_Stacy_?"

The call was more frantic this time and Tony's voice was strained. Her eyes fluttered open, she was dimly aware that she could see shadows, and an eerie blue light, behind him, but her brother was more important. He looked small and fragile in the dark, his skin was pale and his eyes were full of tears that threatened to fall. "Stacy!"

"Tony, I'm fine." She sat up and squeezed him in a bear hug. She kissed his forehead and smiled when he hugged her just as tightly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. It's pretty here. I'm hungry though. I want to go home." He whimpered against her shoulder.

"Me too," she said.

"You mean it? No more hangin' out with Rick?"

"He and his parents can stay here in their fancy camper, I'll hike to the gas station down the mountain and call mom as soon as we get out of here."

"You promise?" His voice dropped to a whisper. "I was scared but I got turned around and I fell down here."

"Me too," Stacy smiled and gave him a reassuring squeeze. "It'll be okay. We're together now, right?"

"I guess." He looked down at his hands and smiled suddenly. He placed something cool and smooth in her hand. "Look at this. Pretty huh? I'll be right back! I just want to get one for mom too."

He scampered away into the darkness before she could grab him. Stacy sighed and was about to get up when she looked at the small object.

It was beautiful; light and color bounced through its depths. Pale blue light shone on her hand, reflected on the wall beside her, and onto the floor. She held it in her hand, unable to speak. She had taken earth science but had never heard of a crystal that glowed before; natural crystals reflected light but they didn't create it.

This small shard was about an inch and a half long, but it was clearly valuable. It was luminous, even though the cave was deep underground and completely dark. The light it gave off was a soft blue but the crystal itself held flashes of pink, gold, violet and green as well as blue. It just depended on how she tilted it to look through it.

Tony dropped another handful of other small crystals in her lap and she stared at them. They were the same. Each one was a vaguely rectangular obelisk, with a point like an old fashioned pencil on one end, and they were all glowing too. "W-Where did you get these?"

"I'll show you, the princess has lots of them- she's right around the corner."

Stacy smiled and rolled her eyes. "I see, so there's a princess down here with us, huh? Do you think your princess will want you playing with her treasure?"

"She's sad, cuz she's lonely, but I told her she's real pretty."

Tony lead her around a small bend in the tunnel, but she wasn't prepared for the sight that awaited her.

Anything she would have said got stuck in her throat when she saw the _thousands_ of crystals imbedded into the stone walls, and growing straight out of the floor. The room they were in was easily as big as the cafeteria at Raccoon High School. They were everywhere- like an incredible diamond mine, no one would ever believe it could exist so close to Raccoon City without being found but they were everywhere.

Stacy was so startled that it took her a while to notice the massive chunk of crystal in the center of a small spring. She tripped as she numbly followed her brother toward it, but couldn't tear her eyes away from the glowing mass of crystal- not even to watch where she was going.

Tony tugged on her hand. "Come on, the princess is over there."

Stacy frowned and looked around. The room was partially illuminated by the glowing crystals despite its great size, and there were no other exits that she could see. There was no one else here.

"No, not over there, she's in there- just like Snow White. I think she's waiting for Prince Charming to come and save her."

Stacy looked down at her brother. He moved through the room like he thought they owned it. He didn't know that they were in an undiscovered diamond mine or something. Stacy looked at the crystals in her hand and instinctively wanted to leave. The air was heavy in spite of the cave's incredible beauty, and she didn't feel safe here. Tony didn't share her misgivings; he was watching the massive crystal as he lead her to the room's center too, but he was smiling. He was still smiling when he stopped and pointed at the huge crystal. "See? She's got to be a princess, right, Stacy?"

Now that they were standing at the waters edge, the crystal's great size was clear- and so was the shape _inside_ of it.

Tony called the woman a princess and Stacy could easily understand why. The figure standing within the crystal wore a flowing white silk gown that wrapped around her body with casual elegance. A long strand of large pearls adorned her neck. She looked so peaceful that she seemed to be asleep, but the sadness written on her exquisite face was unmistakable. Her eyes were closed and her hands rested against her chest. She was beautiful and yet so unnatural and unexpected in the small cave that Stacy couldn't form words to describe her shock.

There was something about the ethereal figure that scared her. The woman's long brown hair was as still as the ruffles of her gown, but Stacy held her breath, waiting to see her to open her eyes and look at them at any second. She looked like a movie star, a princess, an angel and a magical genie all at once… The more she looked, the more she expected to see the woman breathing and yet people couldn't _live_ in crystal.

Stacy walked around the spring surrounding the crystal unable to decide if the place itself was real much less the entombed woman. Was she still lying on the floor of the cave dreaming? Her palms were sweating and she suddenly wanted out- immediately.

"C-Come on," Stacy whispered suddenly, she tugged at his hand.

"Don't you want to see if she'll talk to you too?"

Stacy knew her little brother was imaginative, but the strange question annoyed her. "Come on, this cave isn't safe."

"Sure it is," Tony insisted. Luckily he smiled up at her. "I'm hungry though, we can bring mom here later!"

Stacy cast a look back over her shoulder and shivered instinctively; there was no way she would ever _want_ to come back here. She smiled for his sake though and nodded. "Yeah, mom would definitely like to see this…"

She took his hand and led him carefully up the slope. The way back up was easier than she thought it would be, and the glowing crystals in her hands helped to illuminate the darkness until they got to where the sunlight was visible up ahead. She quickly stuffed the crystals into the pockets of her shorts and moved carefully. The waterfall that hid the way out also made the smooth rock floor slippery. She held Tony's hand and the helped him out into the waning sunlight. There was no path, here either. She kept holding his hand. It was harder climbing up over the rocks and scraggly weeds than it had been going down after him, but she was determined to get away from that cave. The grass and the trees of the Arklay Mountains had never smelled so sweet or looked so green to her before.

Across the clearing, she could see Rick's parents, and they didn't look too happy. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens were smiling though, when they came over to greet them, but Stacy wondered where Rick was at, she couldn't see him at all.

"Are you kids alright," Mr. Stevens asked. Stacy noticed he was looking where the cave was at rather than at her though, and he sounded impatient.

"Look!" Tony was smiling when he proudly held out a bright crystal for Rick's parents to see.

Stacy pretended to straighten her hair, but she could almost feel Rick's mom's curiosity, her voice was sickeningly sweet when she smiled at him. "May I see that, Tony?"

"Sure!"

"Is it one of them?" Rick's father asked.

Stacy frowned. _They've see these before? _

The dark haired woman nodded eagerly, she took Tony's hand and smiled at him. "How about we all go make some smores to celebrate, sweetie? When Stacy and Tom get back to camp they'll want some too, don't you think? Let's go get everything ready, ok?"

Tony nodded and took off running, dragging her by the hand. Stacy watched the two wondering why she couldn't make her voice work to call out to him to wait for her, but she doubted that he was in danger. She just felt a heavy certainty in the pit of her stomach that she should have gone with them…

Mr. Stevens was one of Umbrella's research scientists and a respected man within the community of Raccoon City; she doubted that he would hurt her. Unfortunately, she was still afraid standing so close to the cave that she was going to be asked to show it to him.

She tried to move around him, but he grinned menacingly, and shook his head. She had never noticed it before, but Rick's father was no pencil necked science geek. He was tall, tan and fit. He and his wife and Rick spent every weekend hiking and exploring in the mountains around Raccoon City. "Take me to where your brother found that crystal, Stacy."

His voice was not the pleasant, patient tone she had always heard from him before. There was a warning in it that clearly said he wasn't going to accept maybe later as an answer.

She hesitated and he sighed, he reached into his belt pack and pulled out a satellite phone, and pressed a few buttons. "This is Tom Stevens, reporting to the White office that we have found another crystal deposit. Unfortunately I'm having a little trouble negotiating the finder's fee. My son's 17 year old girlfriend is a stubborn little thing, always has been. Luckily, my wife is holding onto her little brother so I _know_ she'll be a good girl and show me where they found the crystals…"

Stacy's mouth dropped open but she couldn't believe what she'd just heard.

_Was he bluffing? Would they really hurt Tony if she didn't? _She wondered frantically.

A voice on the other end of the connection crackled through the static. "Good, keep us informed."

"Those rocks- what are they?" She asked, trying to pretend that she hadn't understood the implied threat. She took a step toward the mouth of the cave.

He nodded, and followed her. "That's a good girl, Stacy. We'll be back at camp having smores with everyone else before you know it."

"Yeah," she smiled hesitantly, but felt her anxiety return as she ducked into the cave. It was a tight fit for him, especially ducking behind the waterfall but he seemed to be managing ok, and he was wearing his lighted climbing gear, which he switched on. Unfortunately she was in the lead and she didn't want to fall over that ledge again. Reluctantly, she pulled a crystal from her pocket and he laughed, seeing the electric blue sheen that it gave off even though he couldn't see the crystal.

"You weren't going to tell us you found anything here at all, were you?"

"I-I hadn't thought about it."

"Hmm. Too bad I don't believe you, Stacy."

She crept down the step that had caused her to fall the first time, and walked slowly down the slope. It wasn't much farther, and she was really getting scared. Very soon he wouldn't need her help to find the crystals- they were everywhere and the glow they gave off was unmistakable…

"Well, we're here," she said. She nodded to the bend that lead to the crystal chamber. He took a step in front of her and she turned, ready to run past him up the tunnel again, but he had obviously been waiting for that. He stopped her by grabbing a handful of her ponytail and yanked her backward.

He had a terribly strong grip, and she tripped, tearing out some of her blonde hair before he let go. Her eyes watered and she felt dazed but she was still determined to run. She was afraid of staying with him any longer so she screamed when he pulled her in front of him and wrapped one arm around her throat.

"This would be easier for both of us if you would just cooperate."

"I-I just want to go home," she said. He didn't reply; he kept an iron grip on her and this time she walked quietly.

The moment he stepped around the bend and saw the crystals, Stacy felt his grip loosen.

Stacy's father was a cop with the RPD and he had taught her a lot about self defense; his distraction was her chance to escape. Before she could think about what she was doing, she stomped on her captor's foot. He growled angrily and as she turned, she thrust the palm of her hand up under his chin. The blow snapped his head back and made him stumble.

She dashed for the cave opening that would take her outside, but she could already hear him behind her and he managed to grab her ankle. She tripped and winced when he yanked her back down the slope. He kicked her in the stomach; she crumpled to the cold stone floor and moaned. She was too dazed to try again, but he didn't give her a chance to speak; he dragged her toward the center of the room, by her shirt collar ignoring her struggle to keep up.

He began to laugh as he looked around the room. He dropped her next to a large crystal about twelve feet from the magnificent tower of crystal and promptly tied her hands behind her back. He also tied her ankles together and smiled coldly at her.

He turned away though and looked around the room triumphantly. "Five years of searching the upper caves and it was in here the whole-"

For a moment, Stacy didn't even dare to breathe. Rick's father walked over to the edge of the spring and stared at the tower of glowing crystal. He was looking at her… the woman in the crystal.

"W-What the…" He jumped toward the entombed figure- his boots splashed through the small spring and placed his hands on the massive chunk of crystal. He stared at it for a good ten minute before he took the sat phone out of his pack and dialed another number.

"Call Sidney, Jackson, Spencer and get an investigation and an evac team to these coordinates on the double. _**No**_ publicity, got that?" He growled at the phone when he realized it wasn't going to work inside the deeply buried cavern. "I would tell you not to go anywhere for a minute, but I already know I can't trust you to hold still…"

"You-you can't do this to me; please, I won't tell anybody about the stupid rocks! Just let me go, I just want to go home!"

"Stupid rocks?" He snarled; his normally friendly blue eyes were livid when he turned to stare at her. "_Stupid rocks_? Do you have _any_ idea what these crystals are?"

"Diamonds?" she asked.

He laughed, but it was a cold sound, hollow and full of contempt, rather than humor it frightened her. He sounded crazy and she was still trapped here with him.

"These crystals are glowing because they are made of crystallized energy, but until now there were not enough samples of them to study. She's beautiful, but by studying her, I can figure out how the crystal forms and use the energy. We could completely revolutionize energy production and distribution if Umbrella finally gives me the space I need to work on this. Now that I've found the crystals I need, Umbrella will have to give me more lab space!"

Stacy stayed quiet, and hoped that he would forget about her. She leaned against one of the stone base of one of the crystal growths and stared at the floor. The scientist laughed and went back to looking around the room. He took a small chisel out of his pack and tapped a large crystal obelisk off of the woman's crystal tomb near the base.

Ripples stirred the water surrounding the crystal tower and Stacy shivered, for she thought she heard a woman's voice echo softly through the chamber.

_No… please, don't wake __**her**__…_

Rick's father didn't appear to notice, but Stacy's eyes were drawn to the woman's face. She expected to see her awake, angry with glowing red eyes and long clawed fingernails… but she still seemed asleep. Her eyes were closed and her pose was as sad but relaxed as ever.

"This is better than I had hoped for! The energy readings of this crystal are greater than the concentration within any other sample we've ever found!"

"Congratulations, on your discovery, Dr. Stevens," the voice that spoke was masculine and it sounded as cold as Rick's dad had been impassioned. Stacy looked around wildly, but she didn't believe for a minute that the new arrival was here to rescue her. "Umbrella appreciates your many years of dedication, but from what I can see, the lovely lady _in_ the crystal is of greater interest to the White office than your energy theories."

"W-What? W-Wesker, you can't be serious! Y-You can't do this to me! T-This is- it's my life's work and _**I**_ discovered it." Rick's father was looking around for the other man, but like Stacy, the scientist couldn't seem to find him.

The other man laughed coldly. "On the phone an hour ago you told us you were negotiating a finder's fee, Doctor. I was sent immediately to follow you and make sure that you were telling the truth about a discovery being made. The White office likes _progress_ Tom; and you haven't been making much in the last five years. I will happily tell them about this place on your behalf, but your associates will be continuing your work on the project. As you know, with the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Darius, the viral weapons projects have all hit a bit of a snag, so Sidney and Jackson are looking for a new pet project to occupy their time and curiosity with…"

The scientist nodded nervously. "I have to find out what has preserved the body to be able to use the energy, Wesker, so I will be devoting myself to-"

The other man laughed again and Stacy heard a metallic click, she shivered and tried not to think about what would happen next. "That's the trouble with you, Tom; you're missing the bigger picture. The woman in the crystal- I don't think she's dead."

Stacy's heart skipped a beat, so she wasn't the only one who sensed it. It was eerie and frightening to think about, but she didn't believe the woman was dead either.

_Please…_

Stacy heard the same female voice as before, and again she stared at the face of the woman in the crystal. The whisper was still soft and indistinct, but she believed she had heard it. The woman had to be dead- and yet Stacy sensed that she knew they were there.

Rick's father scoffed at the idea so loudly that Stacy doubted either of the men had heard the soft spoken plea, and she shivered.

_You must leave this place, now…_

The advice was good and Stacy shivered, she could almost feel the sadness of the woman deepening, like the heavy cloud of gloom hanging over the whole chamber. She tried to wriggle her hands out of the knots he had tied in the climbing ropes that bound her…

"You are right about one thing, Tom; we do need to move these specimens immediately. The media will have to be kept out of this, so I'm sure Jackson and the others will assign the project to be moved to the Mansion facility immediately for peace and quiet. Goodbye, Dr. Stevens." The man in the shadows had a smooth, cold voice that gave Stacy the chills once again.

"No!" The scientist howled. She sensed both anger and fear in his voice. She tried to imagine what the man threatening him looked like, but she couldn't see anything. It would probably be best to just try and hide. "You can't do this to me! I started this project- I've…"

"You've been replaced, Dr." A gunshot echoed through the chamber- impossibly loud, it echoed off the walls and the crystals, and Stacy screamed, for in that instant something wet and sticky splashed across her face…

She looked up in time to see the scientist stagger, and fall at her feet. She scrambled to get her legs away from him. He was already dead; he wasn't breathing and there was a small dark hole in his forehead but his sightless eyes stared at her accusingly. Stacy looked away, choking back a sob. Never in her worst nightmares would she have imagined she might ever see someone shot to death in front of her eyes…

So much for hiding, she tried to regain her composure, but it was already too late, footsteps were coming toward her. An instant later, a man looked down at her without any expression at all, and he wore mirrored sunglasses- strange, she thought, because it was so dark in the cave. He pointed the gun at her casually. He smiled a little as he crouched down in front of her. "So, what's your name?"

Stacy bit her lip; somehow, this man was the most frightening person she'd ever seen. He was a killer- there was no doubt in her mind that he was probably going to kill her too, but she looked at him anyway, determined to be brave. He was handsome; his neatly spiked blonde hair was immaculately well groomed and his sculpted face was clean shaven. He was so close to her that she could smell his strawberry scented bubble gum. He was in good shape, tall, muscular and broad shouldered; his outfit reminded her of the generic evil assassin from any action movie she'd ever seen. He wore black fatigues and unmarked boots and several guns, but she memorized his features anyway, hoping that somehow her last memories could tell her father who to look for when he found out that she was dead…

"Stacy," she murmured.

Wesker smoothed a wisp of her blonde hair out of her face. She closed her eyes and turned her head away from him stubbornly as the gun went off. Pain exploded through her chest, and her head hit the rocks and crystals in back of her from the impact of the bullet. Warm, sticky blood already darkened the front of her shirt.

"Goodbye, Stacy," he said casually.

She coughed, choking on a plea for help. Everything hurt and she couldn't breathe. She could hear the smile in his voice through the sound of the blood pounding through her veins. She looked up at the beautiful woman in the crystal and wondered if she thought it was getting colder in here too...

The man with the gun had moved away from her, he was already interested in other things but before everything went dark she heard a soft female voice whispering again.

_I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…_

_**Author's Note:** _I chose to write the discovery chapter from the PoV of an original character, but she was **not** my creation. Stacy Kelso was a character mentioned briefly by Ada Wong in S.D. Perry's Resident Evil 2 novelization called City of the Dead (which is one hell of a good book), I highly recommend it to any RE fans who haven't already read it.I chose that character because she was ill fated in City of the Dead too, and I (obviously) have no qualms about killing characters off to tell a story...

For those of you who don't recognize the cave or the woman entombed in the crystal, please note that she is the first of several FFVII characters. Her name is unimportant to the story right now, but any internet search for FFVII Dirge of Cerberus will show you a picture or two of her!!


	2. Big Trouble in Raccoon City

**Disclaimer**: I still don't own anything in here. I'm just writing this because it is fun.

**Author's** **notes**: I am beginning with a retelling of the original RE because that is the easiest way to put a Final Fantasy 7 spin on the events that started the RE timeline.

Under A Dark Umbrella

Chapter 1

Chris Redfield sighed. _It's just too hot for a press conference_. The June heat was terrible, especially with the record high humidity of 95. The shade was tolerable but there was absolutely no breeze so the air felt heavy and oppressive.

His mind wasn't on listening to Mayor Harris welcome the citizens of Raccoon City to the ceremony, or thanking Umbrella for the company's considerable generosity. This was about the tenth- maybe even the 12th park that Umbrella had added to the city in its attempt to beautify Raccoon City in the last five years alone, so he doubted anyone else was actually listening either.

It was hard to believe they were here on assignment. Standing around in the heat waiting for trouble to start at a small town park dedication was just stupid, but then, that was what happened when you piss of Police Chief "just call me Brian," Irons. This was a job for the uniform cops, but Chris decided he might actually like the park if it wasn't so damn hot. He and the youngest member of the STARS Alpha team were here watching a bunch of noisy kids run through the new rock garden. Typical kids, they were busy throwing sticks and pebbles into the many new fish ponds and waterfalls. There were adults at the ceremony too, but all of them were watching their children. Even the people with cameras and press badges looked bored and uncomfortably hot, but they were waiting for the chance to talk to Mayor Harris about the progress the investigation had made into the cannibal murders this week.

Finally, after months of prompting, questions and pleading with both the Mayor, and Irons, the STARS office of Raccoon City was now officially assigned to the Cannibal Killers case. Unfortunately, for all of his efforts to get the case, Chris _wasn't_ at the briefing with Wesker and the rest of the Alpha team. He knew that Jill and Barry would tell him what they were missing, but he was still bored _and_ pissed.

Amanda Whitney, Umbrella's well paid publicist took the podium to a scattered bit of brief applause, but Chris wasn't interested in anything she had to say either. Beside him, Tony was fidgeting and Chris grinned. "You might as well relax, Kelso. This is about as exciting as it's going to get for us today."

"Yeah, I guess old Irons wasn't kidding when he said he'd pull us out of the briefing and put us here all day, huh?"

"Yeah, well at least this is the nicest park Umbrella's paid for so far, I kinda like it. I think next time Claire comes down for a visit, I ought to bring her here for a picnic."

"Claire? Isn't that the cute redhead whose picture is on your desk? I'd be happy to show her around for ya, Chris."

Chris grinned but only partially managed to hold back his over protective big brother glare. "I'll bet. You aren't good enough for my sister, Tony. Don't even start- besides I heard you were going out with the mayor's oldest daughter -Britney."

"Yeah, well, Beverly is cuter."

Chris gave an exasperated groan. "That's what I mean, Tony. You aren't getting anywhere _near_ my sister."

Tony just grinned mischievously and Chris grinned back. He was even younger than Chris, but he was an excellent scout; and he'd already proven himself to be quick witted and adaptable. He'd been recruited to replace Joseph who had been transferred to another STARS branch a few months ago, but Tony had been born and raised in Raccoon City so they had a lot in common and had become friends quickly.

Still, Tony and Claire were the same age, and Chris didn't doubt that Tony _would_ like to meet her. Luckily, Claire was busy working tonight, and in the fall she'd be studying hard at the University again, and Chris wanted her to get her degree and find a good job. She was only in her second year of classes, and while she was smart and got good grades, he wanted to see her through school. Chris _didn't_ want to see his baby sister get serious about anyone just yet- not even a guy he liked as well as Tony...

"Damn," Tony sighed. He wiped his brow with his forearm and stood up. A faint sound of something dropping onto the cobblestone walkway followed and Chris looked down. A shimmering blue prism about an inch and a half long lay on the ground. Chris picked it up and was about to give it back but he paused as he saw other colors flash through it when it rolled across his hand.

"What is this?" Chris asked. He was still looking at the crystal, but he held it out for Tony to take it back.

"Shit! I dropped it?" Tony looked very relieved to get it back, but rather than put it away into his pocket, he frowned. "I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

Tony shrugged. "I've had it ever since I can remember, but no one can tell me what it is."

"Where did you get it?"

"I found it, when I was a kid. I was seven; I remember that, cuz I was with my big sister, her name was Stacy. We were on a camping trip, out there in the Arklay Mountains and I wandered off into this weird cave and hid… She came and found me, and I had this but… that's all I can remember. She disappeared in the woods that same day, and I never saw her again. There was a big investigation, but they never found her…"

They both jumped when Chris' walkie-talkie suddenly crackled static at him. He grabbed it. "Chris! This is Barry; we've got a situation. Both of you need to be at the north end of the clearing in the park! ETA six minutes, don't be late, kids! We'll be picking you up in the chopper!"

The device shut itself off and the two STARS stared at each other for a moment.

"They're picking us up in the chopper? What the hell's going on?" Tony asked finally able to speak.

Chris shook his head. He didn't know either, but Barry Burton wasn't easily rattled, and if Wesker was willing to land a chopper in the middle of a brand new city park to pick them up, then the situation couldn't be good. He imagined the look on Iron's face when the helicopter sat down on the park's lush new grass and grinned, that ought to teach Irons to assign STARS to monitoring park dedications! Beside him, Tony looked troubled.

"So, your sister disappeared? Wait, how long ago was that?" Chris asked, his own curiosity surprised him a bit.

Tony sighed; they walked over a bridge crossing a small lily pond on the way to the clearing. The sun was setting; red and gold warmed the sky above the trees and distant mountain tops and reflected in the peaceful water.

"Thirteen years ago, Stacy and I had been camping with her boyfriend's family. Rick was a jerk, and Stacy and I both wanted to go home, but his father was Tom Stevens, and he worked for Umbrella. Tom's wife told the police that she'd gotten a call from Tom and said that he was going to his office for some piece of equipment and that Stacy was walking back to camp alone, but she never made it and Tom was found dead in his ransacked office the next morning."

"I would have been like ten, but yeah, I kind'a remember when that Scientist was shot. That was a big deal; you said you were out camping with them?"

Tony nodded, "No one wanted to think it was related- I mean a double murder in Raccoon City? No one would have believed it then. So, the media downplayed the connection- then again, Bertolucci hadn't come to town yet. Chief Irons was already a hot shot detective then but when he solved the murder of Dr. Stevens, blaming industrial espionage and a robbery gone wrong for motive, he became the town's favorite son… Hard to believe he's so different from the public face he puts on."

"Yeah, Chief Irons is a joke, but man, I had no idea it was your sister was the girl who went missing though. I'm sorry, Tony."

"Thanks, but it isn't your fault… You know, I was afraid it was my fault- that maybe if we'd stayed together that she might still be alive…"

Chris shook his head. "You were just a kid, if she thought she was in trouble then she probably thought you were safer not knowing about it. Claire's the only family I've got left, my parents would turn over in their graves if I _ever_ got her into trouble."

"Yeah, but Chris, as I've gotten older, I started to think that Stacy's disappearance and Tom's murder, both had something to do with this." Tony was holding the small blue crystal again and Chris couldn't help noticing that as the sun's light waned, the crystal's gleam was getting brighter. "When I was in junior high school, I took this to the Museum of Natural History in New York and the Geology exhibit curator took one look at it, and told me to bury it- and do it _quietly_. I haven't shown it to anyone since…"

Chris had to admit, there might be something to his theory; he'd certainly never seen a crystal like it before, but he wasn't a geologist either and would Umbrella really kill someone over a rock like that? _Was that too paranoid to be rational?_

_Well, what about you? You haven't been yourself since Billy disappeared, have you? _Chris' mind taunted. They'd been friends since they were old enough to walk and now that they were grown up, Billy had stayed in Raccoon City and found a good job at Umbrella. Unfortunately, Billy had been missing for months and still no one had taken Chris's concern seriously about that, not until Tony had been brought in to join their STARS unit. Looking back on it now, he understood Tony's interest in what Chris had told him about his last conversation with Billy- the stories were eerily similar and while Chris had never been afraid to speculate that Umbrella probably had a few skeletons in its closet; right now it looked like a pretty big closet.

"Heads up, Chris," Tony said. "Here comes our ride."

Chris nodded and turned to see the chopper's form heading for them, still about a block away, but coming in quickly.

"_Redfield_!" The Chief's loud voice boomed across the park and Chris rolled his eyes, but turned to watch him approach.

"And here comes our boss!" Chris laughed. "Looks like he needs to get out of the office and hit the gym a bit more."

Chief Irons always looked like walking down the hall left him winded, but trotting half way across the park seemed to be too much for him, he paused three times and bent over panting heavily.

"Yeah, but compared to Barry we're _all_ out of shape!" Tony grinned casually, watching Brad bring in the chopper.

Chris nodded, Barry Burton was the senior team member of the Raccoon unit; he was only 38, but he'd been in STARS for the last 15 years. Barry was also 230 pounds of solid muscle because he loved bodybuilding but he was also one of the best shots Chris had ever seen with a gun. Chris had a couple of trophies to vouch for his own skill at marksmanship, but Barry's specialty was quick draw. How such a big guy could move and shoot that fast that accurately, Chris didn't really know, but he considered Barry to be one of his best friends.

Finally, Irons manage to stand upright and pointing at him angrily. "Redfield," he snarled, "when you get back you tell Wesker I want his ass in my office for this reckless publicity stunt!" Irons snarled; his face was red with both anger and exertion.

"Sure thing, _Chief_!" Chris waved and ducked low under the propellers of the chopper, and jumped in between Tony and Jill.

XXXX

Tony could hardly believe what happening. As soon as he and Chris were inside, Brad Vickers eased the chopper back in the air and it headed northwest out of town.

This was his first real STARS mission with the Raccoon unit, and they were heading right into the heart of the Cannibal Killers murder sites. This was _it_; the town where he'd spent most of his life was under siege and people were dying. He had hoped to be able to help find a way to stop the inhuman murders, but first he had to pay attention to Captain Wesker's briefing.

"We lost contact with Bravo's helicopter over the woods. We're going in to look for them and find out what happened. With any luck it's just some stupid problem with the radio, an Forrest will have it fixed by the time we've landed but in the event that it isn't we're going in loaded for a rescue."

Chris nodded grimly, "What were their last coordinates?"

Wesker almost seemed to hesitate for a half second, but the Captain's voice was as cool as ever when he spoke. "It's sector 22, Chris, on the tail end of C-"

Tony saw Chris scowl at him, but Barry tapped Wesker on the shoulder to hand him and Chris two clips loaded with 9mm rounds each, ending the conversation before it really stated.

Chris pulled on his Kevlar vest and tucked the clips into his pack along with the other ammo and effects they were bringing, but Tony noticed the older Alpha still looked troubled. "Something wrong, Chris?"

"Yeah, we're landing in the Umbrella Corporation's back yard, that's..."

Tony gave him a perplexed look but Wesker spoke again before he Chris could say any more. "I know you've been saying for months that you wanted clearance to check this area, Chris. We've all been following the RPD's investigation and we know that we're heading into the investigation's prime hot zone but this is still a rescue mission for the Bravos, I want you _all_ focused on that, are we clear?"

Chris nodded, and broke into a grin, "Yes, sir."

Tony couldn't believe how relaxed Chris and the others all looked.

"Good." The Captain was already finished arming himself and Tony worked faster to pull on his own fingerless gloves and then stow his supplies into his pack too.

"Sir! I see the chopper!" It was Jill Valentine, she was pointing into the deepening shadows of the Victory Lake district woods and Tony nodded. A tall, thin plume of oily smoke was rising skyward. His adrenaline was already pumping. He shouldered his rifle and adjusted the scope, with his other hand he also checked that his 9 mm was still on his hip, _check_. He as eager to perform well and helping the Bravos was his top priority too, one of them was only 18. Rebecca Chambers hadn't been in Raccoon very long, but she was pretty cute and she had to be feeling pretty uneasy.

Since the day he'd been accepted into the STARS program, he'd been eager to come back to his home town for his first real mission. He took the crystal out of his pocket. _Okay, this is it, wish me luck, sis. _He smiled to himself as he pushed the small crystal back into his pocket. Even though he no longer believed his sister could still be alive somewhere, he did hope that she was still with him in spirit.

"We're here, Sir." Brad landed the chopper on the ground with consummate skill and turned to give them the thumbs up, but Tony was already moving. He landed lightly in the overgrown clearing, and ducked low and crept out into the darkness. Scraggly dry weeds clawed at his pant legs stirred by the blades of the chopper. He could see the windshield of the other chopper shining in the early moonlight and headed towards it, already aware that the rest of the team was with him.

Tony was only about a hundred feet from the other bird when he realized that he couldn't see anything really wrong with it- and yet there was no movement around it. He moved faster but hesitated twenty-five feet from it, he turned back to the others. "Sir! There's still no sign of anyone up there; request permission to search the perimeter?"

"Alright, Barry, Chris, you help Tony search the perimeter, Jill come with me for a look at the chopper."

He really wanted to help look at the chopper, but his instincts as a scout told him that the area was much too quiet. Now that Brad had shut down their chopper, and was waiting quietly for them to come back with the Bravos, the silence in the woods was disconcerting.

_Where are the birds, the crickets and the chirping cicadas? _There was something very wrong in the clearing, Tony was certain of it.

The silence was deafening as he led the search farther and farther from the two choppers. The only sounds he could hear were the ones he and the other Alphas were making. His boots crunched through the dry, weedy grasses choking the clearing. It didn't feel real, because it was so unusual for the middle of the summer for anything to be this quiet. His boot clinked against something metal on the ground and Tony reached down to pick it up. It was a gun- but there was something attached to it- Tony stared at it for a second even after he realized what it was… it as a gloved human hand, severed at the wrist!

"Hey!" Tony cried, turning back to glance at Barry and Chris. He held up the grisly proof of injury and saw the other two men nod, their expressions were grim too. "There's wounded here! We have to find the Bravos quick!"

A reddish shape stirred in the weeds to his left and Tony turned toward it, afraid it was one of the Bravos- wounded, but before he could call out a greeting, the shape lunged. Tony heard the thing snarl and realized that it as moving on all fours! He saw its eyes and the snarling jaws of a huge canine- but there was something so wrong with it that it took him a second to comprehend what it was. It looked like his weird next door neighbor's prized Doberman- except that it was- well, _slimy_. The strange dog growled but the sound was weird and distorted- like it was growling at him through a mouthful of blood. Tony jumped back, but it was amazingly fast and _strong_ when it lunged again, it almost knocked him over, this time its huge jaws closed on the rifle, and almost pulled it away from him! Tony had brought the gun up just in time to block the attack, he berated himself for not keeping the weapon ready to shoot, but he didn't want to have an itchy trigger finger on his first mission either.

Again the dog snarled, shaking its slimy head and Tony jumped back when it pressed its paws against his shirt. There was a strange smell in the air too and as the dancing beam of light from Chris' flashlight hit the dog's face, Tony almost fell on the ground with shock. The dog- it looked- _dead_. There was a huge gash ripped into its neck and the thing's whole body appeared to be covered in slimy red muscle- like it had been skinned by some jerk and then just let go… but that just wasn't _possible_!

The huge dog yelped like a kicked puppy when three rounds from Barry's Colt 45 slammed into the thing's broad chest, and it fell dead at his feet, twitching only once before it lay still.

Tony stared at it, shocked and disgusted. He liked animals, especially dogs, but he'd never seen anything like _this_. He picked up his flashlight and inspected it closer, but he was amazed that he still thought it looked like a skinned dog! He put his hand over his mouth and turned away in disgust when he realized that the smell of rotting meat actually _was_ coming from the dog- and it wasn't the thing's bad breath, either. The gaping wound in its muscular neck was crawling with maggots, there were also maggots eating their way out of the holes punched into its shoulder by Barry's gun...

"You okay?" Chris's hand rested on his shoulder and Tony forced himself to nod, but he was trying really hard not to vomit.

"We've got Forrest. We're taking him to the Chopper, cover us. What were those shots?" Wesker shouted, from the Bravo's chopper, breaking into their conversation.

Chris grinned reassuringly and trotted off to explain while Tony just tried not to think about the dog anymore, but he looked at it once more before he headed back into position too. He'd almost been mauled by a dead dog- and this was the same area of Raccoon Forest where all nine murders and five disappearances had taken place! Witnesses has said there had been reports of strange sightings in the woods, packs of strange men and animals… He didn't understand what was going on, but he knew it couldn't be a coincidence. _He'd have to be more careful._

Forrest Speyer was a friend of Chris' and a super nice guy with a good sense of humor, but the Bravo team's pilot was leaning heavily on Jill and Captain Wesker for support. Tony couldn't even tell if he was conscious though Barry told him as they caught up with the others that he had a head wound and a badly injured leg… Before he'd passed out, Forrest managed to tell Jill and Wesker that he'd been trying to fix the chopper when a pack of dogs attacked the team, scattering them in all directions…

Something moved in the grass along the tree line to the left. Tony paused for only a half second when a long, mournful howl came from the same area… "Run!" He cried, and dashed toward the Alpha's chopper. Dark shadows moved lightly and swiftly out of the trees at the same time, heading for them and from their speed and height, instinct told him they were the dogs… but there were more than twenty of them! He doubted even Barry was quick enough to take out all of them.

He was glad to see Brad was starting the chopper, he'd seen the monsters skimming toward them too and he was ready to leave when they jumped on with Forrest. Tony ran faster, as the impossibly fast dogs began gaining on them. He was close enough to see Brad's face- Vickers was deathly pale and his hands were unsteady clawing feverishly at the controls of the chopper; the bird lurched into the air ungracefully and continued to draw away. Tony couldn't believe it- but he also knew that there was no time to stop. The dogs were gaining on them and they were caught out in the open.

He caught sight of the roofline of a large, unlit building straight ahead and nodded toward it. "Head for that house, straight ahead!"

There was no time to check and see if they'd understood him or not- there were bushes up ahead and when Tony ran past the over grown hedge, he found himself in a palatial driveway entrance of a mansion graced with an overgrown set of gardens. The grass hadn't been mowed for ages it looked like, but the hulking size of the house was incredible. It reminded him of every house he'd ever seen on Scooby-Doo; it was an old, foreboding mansion with no lights on, surrounded by spacious but untended gardens...

A shape rushed at him from the shadows of a smaller hedge, it snarled and this time Tony didn't hesitate, he turned his body toward it and fired. The rifle opened a hole in the disgusting canine's slimy head and he was about to run for the huge set of double doors awaiting him on the massive patio, but another dog bounded after him followed by three more. Tony veered left across the yard and scrambled up onto a pile of old crates covered by a weather beaten old tarp. The pile was tall and huge but not too high for the agile dogs to jump onto so Tony took a calculated risk. He slung the heavy rifle across his back and jumped, reaching for the top of the massive brick wall several feet away. He knew he only made it because his adrenaline was pumping and he pulled himself up onto the wall with shaking arms. The four dogs jumped at him, snarling in mindless fury, but Tony only sighed and turned away from them.

He tried to catch his breath, but he looked around carefully. He wasn't about to jump down from the safety of the wall just yet. He was in another garden, and the thick wall was over twelve feet tall, he couldn't climb back up it. It was an enclosed courtyard- a big one too, judging the size of it from wall to wall. It was just as badly overgrown as the front gardens had been. He wondered where they were at. He could see several paths meandering through the garden and a greenhouse waited along one wall to be explored. The large garden had several entrances to the main house, and several stands of shade trees. The most obvious way out was to try and go through the house, if he wanted to meet up with the others he had to head there first.

He landed silently in the grass beside the wall, and stepped onto the path. He kept his rifle ready; having the weight of the large weapon in his hands was comforting. The wind rustled through the plants and shade trees, but in here, there was silence and nothing was leaping out of the shadows to try and eat him, but Tony still felt wary. He thought about the others, had they made it to the front doors? The silence in the garden was as lonely as it was disconcerting. Cut off from the rest of the team, uncertain even of where they were at, Tony sighed. He had to keep going, after all, he was still a member of Alpha team, and they were on a rescue mission. He'd made it this far- the others might have made it inside the house too; he was just taking a different road.

The first door leading into the mansion was only twenty feet away when he heard it…

Tony paused, sweeping with the rifle in all directions, it sounded like a person moaning in pain. He called out but no one answered.

He shivered in the cool breeze that swept through the garden, ruffling the leaves on the trees. _Was it just my imagination_?

Tony stayed there, totally motionless for a moment longer, but the sound wasn't repeated. He shrugged trying to convince himself that he wasn't scared, but inside he felt a terrible sense of foreboding wash over him. Like the forest around the mansion, the garden was too quiet; it seemed that the whole planet was holding its breath, as if wondering what would happen next…

He remained alert, but the door handle proved to be stuck and locked tightly. So, he continued along the path, ready to try the next door. The well marked path took him past a stand of the garden's many shade trees, and under the heavy boughs of a weeping willow he almost tripped over the body that lay across the path.

It was badly rotted- mummified by the summer sun, it was almost a skeleton, Tony was horrified by how pitiful it looked, but he couldn't see what might have killed it... The body was dressed in little more than bloody rags- but before could step away from it, the corpse shifted and reached out for him, then it moaned. It was the same soft moan he'd heard before, but closer now, it sounded hungry and it filled him with dread. The mummified zombie scrabbled uselessly along the sidewalk, a thin stream of drool came from its dried up mouth as it turned its head to look at him with hollow eye sockets. Tony shuddered and fired at it with his rifle. A small pool of blood formed around the thing's exploded head, but he didn't feel any better as silence descended on the garden yet again.

He'd seen zombie movies before, but he couldn't believe what he'd just seen. The monster had been trying to eat him- just like the dogs… He looked around at the darkened windows of the house and wondered if it was safer inside the house… What happened here? In zombie movies it was usually some sort of a disease or a chemical spill that brought the dead to life again- the dog had been frightening, but this had been a person, making it seem weirder still.

_What in the hell is going on?_ Zombies aren't real- but then, the corpse had just been crawling along the sidewalk, trying to grab him! It didn't make sense, but the body was real, and so was the stench coming off of it. Hadn't Chris said they were landing in Umbrella's back yard? Tony sighed, he wished he'd been able to ask Chris what he meant by that in the chopper, but Tony had heard Chris say that they needed to check the Spencer Estate, because it was out in the woods by itself and it was pretty much in the middle of the murder sites.

Was this the Spencer Estate that Chris and Barry had been talking about? Umbrella was the largest manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the world, but they owned the _**entire**_ town- it didn't make sense for them to be dabbling in illegal substances or research in their own backyard… did it?

He shivered; he wasn't going to find out what was happening by standing here. The other door inside was locked too, and the greenhouse was starting to look more interesting, but as he got closer, he saw blood smeared on the dirty windows and the door handle- and it was still wet. He shifted the rifle to his back and pulled the nine millimeter out of its holster- going into a small area with such a large weapon was dangerous... besides, there could still be someone alive here, and it was his job to find them.

Chickenheart Vickers may have left _them_ here, but Tony wasn't about to abandon the mission- _no way._

**Author's Notes:** I am, obviously, not going to be doing a literal translation of RE's events, but in certain respects, this should feel pretty close. The fact that this is a crossover with FFVII means this fic will take a while set up, so bear with me. I have to change certain things from the game to set up the back story for this fic, and I'm too lazy to go through the mansion room by room and solve the puzzles (even though I love them).

Let me know how you think I'm doing, I really love reviews!

I am going to be borrowing a lot of S.D. Perry's ideas from the Resident Evil novelizations for what I see as canon background- for instance, knowing what an asshole Chief Iron's is, I can't imagine him getting along well with Chris, the scene at the first part of the first novel was brilliant. By the time this crossover ends, the cast of characters involved will be huge and so will the list of casualties!! I love Joseph for bestowing upon Brad, the nickname of Chickenheart Vickers (also from the books), but I need Tony involved and transferring Joseph out of Raccoon was the easiest way to arrange it.


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